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- travel - + europe grad trip - Frantically pecking away at the keyboard with a couple of hours before checkout time. 27 May  Champions League Final day! Football fever has well and truly gripped the city, and other than billboards [2] at transportation areas, fans in jerseys flooded the streets. We saw somewhat more Barcelona ones [3] (a few of whom marched in the middle of the road), though after a night with a bunch of them in the next room, a group United ones arrived in the hostel to balance things up. Two Scholes/Giggs/Rooney/Ronaldo/Ferdinand jerseys spotted throughout the day before reaching the stadium, with a Vidic, Brown, Manucho(!) and P(allister?). The manager of our B&B kindly agreed to hold our luggage for us until after the final, and after breakfast [1] we killed the remaining hours before kickoff by strolling the Trastevere neighbourhood. Shared half a litre of gelato [4] (ice-cream) from the recommended Gelateria alla Scala, then moved on to the Santa Maria in Trastevere Church (Saint Mary sure appears to be popular here). The church uniquely has fragments embedded into its outer walls [5], and the candles [6] (with wireframe grid to help hold them in place) just happened to remind me of Buddhist temples. We split after a McDonald's dinner (Filet for me) [7], with sel wandering off to find a pub, while alvin and I tried to get transportation to the stadium proper [8]. We squeezed up a tram filled with Barca supporters, who shook it with their chants (got to find out what that LOLOLOLOL one is about). Got willingly ripped off at the official shop [9], paying 20 Euros for a United scarf (my first), but hey, it's not often that one is happy to overpay. Queued behind a Greek and his wife for an hour to enter.  Didn't quite happen sadly  Colours of the night Found our seats right at the top of the North-East Stands, beside the designated Barcelona area. The less said of the match itself the better, though it was certainly quite an experience. United were never quite up to it, and from what I could see the Barca fans were more active too - certainly after Eto gave them the lead. It all went steadily downhill after that, with a pickpocket likely striking in the second half as he walked up to give me a friendly pat on the chest. It's easy to forgive when one doesn't lose all that much - the scarf suddenly became a wise investment. Left dejectedly right after the final whistle, and for once the majority seen were United fans. It was back to the B&B where we collected our baggage, and waited at the Termini station for our bus to Ciampino airport [1, next pic] . Didn't quite expect an elderly Englishman in a suit and a red-and-white striped tie to come up upon seeing my scarf and say, "Sad day, eh?". We ended up having a short chat on the team's performance - it's moments like this that make travelling all worthwhile. 28 May  Arrived at Ciampino with six hours to spare before our early morning flight to Madrid, and were quickly ushered into the empty Arrivals hall [2] by airport security. Claimed a little corner as our own, put down our burdens, and took turns trying to sleep on the hard floor. Free seating and no entertainment on the Ryanair flight, which was just as well as we tried to continue sleeping on the plane. Had a loaf [3] in Madrid, before hopping on the 12:30 Renfe high-speed train to Barcelona (getting our railpasses validated took some waiting). Lunch, taken on the train, was a sandwich and a bottle of Coke [4]. Played Big Two with the Cathay Pacific playing cards to pass the time, as the scenary wasn't much - over ninety percent of it were scrubbish hills [5], interrupted with sections of tunnels through badly-placed hills. Found our lodgings at the Rambla & Catalunya Hostel, and more or less got used to the European architecture. Got placed in a six-man bunk [6] despite booking for a ten, though the others being three girls (two from Washington) cramped our freedom of behaviour somewhat. Buffet at FresCo for dinner [7], and loaded up on macaroni and pizza. Caught Barca's open-top bus parade [8] afterwards, and wondered what could have been had we headed to the UK and Manchester instead. That done, we walked down the famous La Rambla, and soon reached the "Rambla of the Little Birds", i.e. one roadside pet shop. The birds were indeed present, as were rats (with one giant three times the size of the others) [9] and bunnies, and of course, hamsters!  No Mr. Ham, we didn't get a Spanish companion for you My soles weren't quite as charmed by Europe as my eyes were by the portrait-drawers and artists (including one whom could do wonders with spray paint and old vinyl records), florists, human statues and shell game conmen (or perhaps they deserve to be called performance artists?), and we headed back to our bunk at ten-plus, where I promptly dropped my digital camera. Thankfully it's still working, just that the LCD no longer operates. 29 May   Under (re)construction (Photo credit: alvin) Checked my results for my dead rubber last semester online - few surprises, passed everything, ho-hum. We had moved down the Ramblas to the Barcelona 4 Fun Hostel (surprisingly neither of my travel mates seemed to have realised its location, thus the Ramblas walk yesterday). Our private room was much bigger [1] than the shared one we slept in last, which was a real relief. Walked the Ramblas once more and visited the Barcelona Cathedral (with geese, and the innovation of electric candles) and the Deacon's House (now the city's archive). Dedicated the early afternoon to laundry [2], as our stock of clean clothes wore low. Nutella and bread at the previous hostel wasn't that filling, and lunch at a cosy little restaurant called El Gato Pardo was appreciated. Eggs and bacon strips [3] for five and a half Euros was about as good as a bargain as could be had, and we washed it down with mineral water (35 cents a 1.5L bottle) - hey, we're students on a budget. Got to the Camp Nou only to discover we were too late for a stadium tour, so we went to the megastore instead - they even had two kinds of United T-shirts for sale. I also found the Barca version of my official scarf for just 12 Euros... Came across the Montana State University Chorale [5] on our trip back at the Plaza del Pi. Tickets for their concert were some 15 Euros, though, and I for one didn't have the inclination. Headed to the Travel Bar to take advantage of their Free Dinner offer [6], and for the price of a Coke (that came in a 200ml glass bottle!) with a lemon slice, or pineapple juice from the tap on alvin's part, we each had a filling plate of pasta to tide us over the night, as friendly Swiss fellow guests offered sel an olive. Finally huddled next to the walls of our room to keep the Wifi going and type this entry, as the night sounds of the street we were over floated up unceasingly. Next: Three Singaporeans Two Mexicans And A Kenyan
C.Wenhoo said... though the others being three girls (two from Washington) cramped our freedom of behaviour somewhat.
--no need to restrict yourselves unnecessarily
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